Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
Sven
Lynn,
Thank you so much. I am planning on a 3-year ladder since I am a year away from retirement. Lots of spreadsheet work to calculate the income replacement needed. This ladder will create a steady income stream. So thank you for all your help.
I moved back to high quality bond funds this year. Some of which you covered in the SA article. For now, I will stay with agency bonds to the bond ladder. I will pick active managers for corporate bonds.
Sven
This is a diversion tactics to avoid the Epstein’s files. This is the real thing that potentially can brings down this administration. .
Edit: what is known of Trump in the public space is simply creepy. John Dean of Nixon administration once s…
Trump’s lawsuit against Bob Woodward’s book just got dismissed.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5409559-trumps-long-stalled-suit-against-bob-woodward-dismissed/
NBC provided more legal details.
The defendants had argued that federa…
Thanks @Observant1. I searched earlier to find a non-subscription version, but did not find the MSN. Often, tables and data plots are missing in the free version.
John Stewart's Daily Show may get axed too.
https://nypost.com/2025/07/18/entertainment/jon-stewart-on-possible-daily-show-cancellation-after-stephen-colbert-axe/
Executive Order coming to allow private-equity in 401k
How would Vanguard, for example, folds private equity in 401(k) plan? Being one of the fund within the Target date funds or their LifeStrategy funds ?
@davidrmoran, thank you for sharing this piece from NYT. Today China is a frenemy to US in all aspect of high tech and drug manufacturing. They should not viewed as a low cost manufacturers of cheap goods back in the 80's. Take a look at the smart…
@Old_Joe, so true, just before the market collapsed. Took several years for us to fully recovered. Only asset stay afloat was cash, but we had a small allocation.
CME FedWatch indicated 97,4% probability the rate stay unchanged at 4.25-4.50%.
https://cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html
Next Fed meeting is in September. Will see where the inflation will headed.
The Guardian articl…
One can link their bank account to their 529 plans online. The 529 plan site needs the bank routing and checking numbers. We set it up for monthly investment and buying/selling. It should not take months…
Vanguard products, index funds, are widely…
States are neither have the budget and manpower to handle natural disasters. That is what Federal government is for. Interesting how Gov. Abbott spin it as over 200 dead and counting. Hurricane season is upon the southeast, and that would be a mess…
We have just plain Citibank credit cards, and they accept ACH payment for many years. We generally pay in full two weeks ahead of the due date. June’s Citi Visa bill was paid and confirmed via ACH on the same day.
We avoid CC with special rewards…
This month Professor Snowball provided a very thoughtful commentary on the topic AI. References cited within the articles provide additional insights.
https://mutualfundobserver.com/2025/07/july-1-2025/#more-20680
https://cacm.acm.org/blogcacm/a-…
Thanks to tariffs, food prices and many retail items are creeping up. These days I don’t see big TV flying of the shelves at Costco or Best Buy. Dining in restaurants are reporting falling sales, and some are going bankrupt. At what point when th…
My kids never took formal touch typing and they too type with 2 fingers. Boy, are they fast. They learn to adopt pretty well. Texting fast with 2 thumbs is something to see.
@catch22, I have had similar experience to yours learning to type in high school. It was a life long skills that helpful me to get through college and everything I do today. I even learn to type with my thumbs pretty well on my phone. Who say you c…
@DrVenture, thank you for sharing. The falling dollar since Dec 2024 was concerning when it fallen 9% YTD. The question of whether the dollar remains as the world last resort have been brought up several times. The last downgrade by Moody due to …
@AndyJ, sorry if I address your question appropriately. Having decent returns is only one metric that investors should considered. The expense ratio of Pimco’s institutional shares is over 2%.
PAANX, YTD 7.1% with ER 2.92%
PAUNX, TTD 7.9% with E…
@AndyJ, there are much better alternatives to the Arnott’s funds. Not only they have very average performance, but they are expensive to own. Sadly, these is really nothing special about these funds. MFO Premium would point you to the right direct…
Straightforward tasks such as finding files using keyword search has been around for a long time. These search engines do a decent job, but not all cases. If anything else is annoying is self-spell check when I write, that makes up words that soun…
If neither job numbers from ADP or BLS are in line with expectation, there in no need to cut rates in July.
CME Fedwatch Tool stated the target rate stay unchanged. Next Fed meeting in in September.
https://cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/…
@davidrmoran, thank you for linking the article for everyone’s reading. In has already generated a healthy discussion, thanks to you.
While I personally don’t subscribe to New York Times, but I have access through our local public library.
@O…
Dear @Old_Joe, please ignore BS1K. He is nothing more than being a troll to this board. He wants attention to his writings which contributes little to this board. Remember, he was banned from another discussion board (BB or something) for pulling…
I track these ETFs and their top 10 holdings. Overall I found CGDV and its stock picking process to have an edge over SPY, for example. Also my prior experience with American funds helped to better understand their stock picking process and multipl…
My problem is that dividend stocks paying 4-6% are NOT really growers at all. They are matured business with slow growth. On the other hand, stocks paying the lower end of dividend may be still growing at a faster clip. The dividend filter by itse…
The best part (and takeaway) is that there is a company making cellphones in the U.S., and the phones are $2000 each, and not particularly good. Now extrapolate this to what you are going to pay for a 100% American made automobile, parts and assemb…
